Vampires Arrive in Gotham City

Share.

Josh Fialkov talks about I, Vampire's trip to Gotham.

By Joey Esposito

One of the books that has taken the comics world by surprise coming out of the New 52 relaunch is Joshua Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino's I, Vampire. Exploring the world of vamps in the DC Universe, it focuses specifically on the eternal lovers/arch enemies Andrew and Mary, Queen of Blood.

With today's issue #5, the I, Vampire crew crosses the border into Gotham City and, as it turns out, has a bit of a run in with the Dark Knight himself. I talked with writer Fialkov about I, Vampire's stay in Gotham and where the book is headed next.

IGN Comics: I know from our side of things, reading the comments on our reviews and such, I, Vampire has been a surprise, sleeper hit to most people. What's the response been like from your end?

Joshua Hale Fialkov: It's been great. The people who are reading it, which is not enough people, [laughs] but the people that are reading really like it and they're very vocal about it, which is really exciting. And that's something that I've experienced kind of my whole career. No matter what I do, from my earliest independent books, I've always had these vocal supporters who push what I do. The unfortunate reality is that I don't make normal mainstream comics. I do sort of peculiar, personal comics set against a genre background.

And that's what I, Vampire's about. I look at it less about how I tell a big epic story than I do how do I tell this very intimate story about two people who are in love with each other, who are trying to kill each other. I think that's what people actually respond to on the book. I think that's one of the things that makes it work; you get the sense that there's something huge going on, but what really matters is the relationship between Andrew and Mary.

IGN: Going off that, in terms of creativity, is it freeing to work on this segment of the DC Universe that's not really fully explored and is kind of being traversed for the first time?

Fialkov: Sure, it's great. Look, I'm doing these two Batman issues followed by the Justice League Dark stuff, so I obviously want to play with those toys. But at the same time, I'm so in love with these characters that I would be happy just telling a story about the two of them off in the corner left alone forever.

IGN: You just mentioned that Batman is going to be appearing in the book starting with issue #5. With the book headed to Gotham, how much interaction can we expect to see between the I, Vampire cast and Gotham City characters?

Fialkov: It's really just Batman for now. And it's a lot. Last time we saw Mary, she was riding on a train bound for Gotham, and was looking a little bit hungry. So as the book starts, a train has pulled into Gotham and all the people on it are gone; all that's left is traces of blood everywhere. So Batman is investigating what happened to these people on the train, while Andrew and company pull into town also looking for Mary. And – you're never going to believe this – but I did a superhero crossover where the two superheroes meet and they do not get along right away!

IGN: No way! [laughs]

Fialkov: Yeah, I know, it's crazy! I can't believe they let me do that! It's so unusual. [laughs] But yeah, Batman is very much a part of the cast, which becomes complicated with the whole "Batman doesn't kill" thing. How do you stop vampires if you're not willing to kill them? Which again, is part of the fun of writing the book but also becomes part of the challenge with the character and storytelling. We found, I think, a pretty elegant solution.

IGN: Sounds awesome. You mentioned earlier that there's also some Justice League Dark stuff coming up. Is that similar to what you're doing with Batman or is it a direct crossover?

Fialkov: That's a direct crossover. Me and Peter Milligan are working together on it. The book goes back and forth; the first part of the story is in his book and the second part's in my book. It was sort of interesting because I, Vampire has such a singular voice – literally, because it's got the point of view storytelling stuff – but to have to take what I'm doing and actually broaden it and show those global consequences of the story was a hell of a lot of fun. I'm really, really enjoying it.

By the end of these four issues – the two Batman issues and the two JL Dark issues – the status quo for the book is completely blown up. What you think the book is is no longer what the book is. For me, in all my books – whether it's creator-owned or corporate – I make a point that if you're reading an ongoing book, you need to have something that draws you to the book. Part of that is having a story and a narrative that's willing to twist in on itself and become something different every 20 pages or so.

IGN: Was it an adjustment for you at all to work with Peter on crafting that story?

Fialkov: I mean it's different just in terms of telling a story with somebody instead of doing it on your own. But again, I'm from independent comics where we do what we want. So there's always some adjustment. But I think it's turned out really cool and our voices are different enough that we complement each other in a nice way.

IGN: Cool. Looking at that same question, sort of on a larger scale, you do come from the world of independent comics where you're very much in control of everything. Has that been an adjustment for you in general, coming to DC and doing stuff like Superman/Batman last year or I, Vampire?

Fialkov: All of my published work at DC Comics has been pretty much all mine. I've been more or less left alone and any editorial has been to make the books better. It's an adjustment, but also, while I say I come from independent comics, I've always had an editor and always had my editors behave as though it was work-for-hire so that I'm being raked through the coals on everything that I do. That's part of my process and what allows me to do the kind of books that I do.

IGN: How far out are you working on I, Vampire?

Fialkov: I just turned in my revised two year plan. I know they're really happy with the book and as far as I know, it'll be going for a time to come. They're on board with seeing it through. So hopefully I'll be doing this book until they have to drag me kicking and screaming from it.

IGN: Awesome. My last question is pretty general – what's next for you, at DC or otherwise?

Fialkov: My focus has always been on doing creator-owned books; that's where my heart is. Along with Last of the Greats, I've got probably two more creator-owned books coming out later this year and that's where I put the bulk of my focus, because that's the stuff at the end of the day that drives me and keeps me going.

I, Vampire #5 is on sale today and you can check out Josh's ever growing collection of creator-owned work like Last of the Greats and Echoes from Image Comics and Tumor from Archaia.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on MyIGN. You may or may not discover a profound number of cat pictures.